In his comments on James 4:11–12, written long before the advent of the iPhone, pastor R. Kent Hughes said: “Personally, I can think of few commands that go against commonly accepted conventions [slander] more than this. Most people think it is okay to convey negative information if it is true. We understand that lying is immoral. But is passing along damaging truth immoral? It seems almost a moral responsibility!” This is why the biblical definition of slander is countercultural to the smartphone generation. “By such reasoning, criticism behind another’s back is thought to be all right, as
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